Chapter Text
Walk tall, my friends.
I know it took me a while, but I’m ready now.
Kings of Lucis, come to me!
It’s finally over…
A burst of magic and a loud shockwave resonated throughout the afterlife as the past Rulers of Yore tore apart Ardyn, taking his soul with them to never be seen again.
It was done.
Noctis closed his eyes and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Even as his body turned into pure ether and magical energy, he didn’t feel angry or lost. A calm atmosphere filled his soul as he embraced death with open arms like a true descendant of Lucis.
As the ring on his hands evaporated into dust and his burned hand stopped responding he thought back on his journey and everything that led up towards this moment. All the lies, half truths and the many details that had been hidden from him, he forgave them, not wanting his finally few seconds of life to be filled with bitterness.
He had ten years to come to terms with what his duty truly was, even after discovering the true nature of his family lineage. The one lost to the sands of time after the destruction of Solheim. After sending an ungodly amount of time inside the Pithoss Ruins he pieced together the broken parts of history that the Astrals had wiped out along with the true reason the Infernian had turned against them.
Noctis understood Ifrit’s pain and suffering, and he admitted that his anger wasn’t unjust. He himself even felt pity for the fallen goddess Etro, the one his family had originally been praying to and following.
At first it came to him as a shock that his ancestors from before the line of kings had been established could possibly hold reverence towards a deity so closely associated with death yet in some twisted way it made sense to him.
He always found it strange how the Oracle had been blessed with the powers to heal people and white magic while his line held the Arminger and the Ring but no specific magical powers. Or at least that was how it looked on the surface.
It took him until sitting upon the throne as the rightful ruler or Eos to understand the piece he had been missing. That his line still had the spark to manifest the power that of death and destruction. That was why the ring had Death engraved as one of its spells. It was there thanks to the long-lasting memory and blood that was poured into it, all carrying the small fragments of Etro’s final blessing.
After realizing that, it didn’t take him long to figure out that thanks to Luna holding the ring with her and protecting it for so long Holy was integrated into it. And through the union of both Life and Death the ultimate spell was born, Alterna.
Yet as the one hundredth and fourteenth King of Lucis felt his life escape his mortal coil did he realize that there were other functions to the ring. One was used immediately after his death to take the spirits of his ancestors into the afterlife and finish of the Adagium once and for all.
Or so it seemed like.
The Ring of Lucis was an item of great power gifted by the Blade Keeper to the first king in order to have it store power to defeat the Accursed. With each king dead their spirit and power would be sent into the ring and kept there in order to prepare for the birth of the prophesied one. Yet the goddesses of death power influenced the gift from Bahamut to create something different.
When Noctis sat on the cold throne did the ring sing to him and impart the true knowledge it held. The new function that the ring took on was in the form of a conduit that stored power for over 113 generations in order to give it all to him. All the magical energy and skills were meant to be transferred the second he sat on the throne. But that also put into question if some small part of the Oracle’s power to commune with the Astrals and heal people would also be gifted to him. Yet none of that did even matter in the end. If only he knew that part sooner than after his father drove a blade through his chest.
And since their spirits were already inside the ring, then why was the whole show put on that led to his death? Well, he knew exactly why. Everyone hid the fact that he was meant to die in the end from him. His father knew yet he omitted the details and sent him away on a trip to his doom. Lunafreya, as the Oracle she must have also known what struggles laid in his destiny, yet not knowing that her own life would be cut short because of it. The Thirteen Royal Arms of his ancestors that he was tasked with finding and reclaiming it as that was his birthright. And to think they were also that which became the weapons of his undoing.
He wondered if his destiny from the get-go wasn’t one to be littered with golden starlight but the dark ashes of death and destruction. Noct wondered if the stars would ever shine upon him once more. All he had was the vast ocean of souls in the beyond, ever silent and so beautifully majestic. A tidal wave of death that was brimming with Etro’s presence. He wished to reach out and touch it if his body could even respond.
Noctis would have sighed if he still could about the tragedy of his life. One that never allowed him to actually be free from the control of others. In the end the only people he could fully trust were his brothers in all but blood. The same three that joined him on a road trip that led them to lose their lives as well.
Now armed with all that knowledge the true king could do nothing but watch as everything slowly disappear right before his eyes as the void of death took him to become one with Etro.
And so the King of Kings, the one who gained strength beyond that of the gods themselves bid his goodbye to the stars he cherished so much. After fulfilling his duty until the very end King Noctis Lucis Caelum could finally rest in peace.
…
…
Can someone help?
…
…
Please help, my mommy is hurt.
…
…
…
…Please, please help, anyone…
…
A sudden sharp intake of breath and Noctis’ eyes went wide open. Vertigo overtook his body and he fell onto the ground and barely caught himself with his hands from eating dirt. He heaved and breathed heavily as he tried to understand just what was happening, gripping the dirty ground and trying to regain balance. Everything around him was dark and barely illuminating with some weak lights. His shaky legs tried to support his upped body.
Yet that failed tremendously as a barf went up from his stomach and escaped, splattering loudly against the ground. “S-Shit.” It was unsightly of royalty to curse yet he couldn’t stop himself from doing it as everything was catching up to him. Noct remembered everything that transpired in the last few hours. Going to confront Ardyn, fighting the Cerberus at the entrance. His battle against Ifrit and the past Kings of Yore. And at the end the Starscourge personified before finishing the fight in the otherworld.
“But I ended it all?”
He gripped with reality as he questioned just what was happening around him before more shocking developments hit him. “M-My hands!?” The king stared in shock at his arms that wasn’t even remotely destroyed or greyed out from an overload of magic. The wounds inflicted by his last attack were all gone. Then his hand shot up and grabbed his jawline. No hair. He couldn’t feel his beard that had grown over his 10 years inside the Crystal. It was like all the damages had been reversed and his body de-aged back to his younger self. “This isn’t happening. I need to find out where I am.”
Gripping onto a lamp post next to him he stood up and glanced around, wondering just where he was. As a young prince he became intimately familiar with the entirety of Insomnia when he would run away from his babysitter’s and guards to take in the sights of the city. But the place around him looked like a complete desolate waste land with nothing alive in sight. Cracked and destroyed ground with rusty metal sheets for walls that made up houses everywhere around him. To him the place seemed more like some slums rather than his glorious kingdom that looked majestic even after years of destruction.
No, wherever he was it was all new and unknown to him even after seeing pretty much every corner of Eos. The only good thing out of the whole thing was that even thought it was the middle of the night if the darkness was anything to go by, no daemons had jumped out at him. And just when he was about to release a shout of joy all rational thinking jumped out of the wind when he stared at a dark sky above his head. “What in the world?”
Above him in the air hung a steel contraption that blocked out the night sky with its imposing size. The whole thing was far larger than any Imperial Dreadnought and as dark and gloomy as the Zangarious Keep. It was definitely a true feat of engineering and human ingenuity, but it felt all wrong to the Chosen King. “Where the hell am I?”
And as daunting as the new situation was Noctis knew he had to keep moving forward. It was his duty as a ruler to keep moving onward without fail and taking it all in stride. Dusting of his pants the man stood tall about to take the first step forward on his new journey when something on his left hand began to shine. Quickly looking down he saw the same ring that drained his father of his life stuck on his finger, sending waves of magical energy right into his body.
Faster than lightning itself he closed his hands and bit into his own lips, anger pooling in his core as he was about to actually punch something. “Dammit all.”
And he let it all out and breathed in once more, then again repeating the process until his emotions had settled. Noctis didn’t wish for the energy that was flooding his body to violently burst out in a light show, especially after sensing and hearing other people around him. “No time to waste, gotta keep moving forward.”
The last of Lucis slowly and granularly began to make his way out of a dark alley way he appeared in while checking on his clothes. His Kingly Raiment was still somewhat fine, with ash and dirt covered them and a sizable hole where his chest was. Thankfully the inner lining that protected him was still fine and most undamaged except for the chunk missing. He touched the spot with his right hand and gasped as a crystalline structure pulsed to his touch. In the place of an open wound that pierced his chest was an object that reminded him too much of the Crystal his family had sworn to protect.
Noctis grabbed his head and tried to come up with some sort of explanation for everything. Him being alive. The ring still existing on his finger. The steel sky that loomed over his head. It was too much.
He threw his hands into the air and gave up thinking about his situation right now. His priorities should be getting the hell out wherever he was before some sort of authority decided that he’d caused some civil unrest.
Deciding to change his clothes quickly, Noctis used his Armiger reflexively and had his tattered clothes vanish into motes of blue energy and change into his Royal Raiment. The formal attire he had to ware to many galas and public events fit his form perfectly as he breathed a sigh of relief that his storage space functioned as intended. Noticing that he summoned his phone as fast as possible and fired it up. The screen light almost blinded his as his fingers instinctively moved across the screen to put in the correct password. Getting through the lock screen he immediately checked the top right corner and cursed. “No service.”
That meant that Noctis had to go around and find the information on his whereabouts himself. “Better start moving now.”
Stepping out of the dark and cold arrival point, the young man noticed he was standing next to a fairly large train platform. Built with grey stone and a roof over head it stood out from the harsh surroundings like a Solheim structure. His wonder seized in about 5 seconds when he began to look around for any sort of map that could tell him where exactly he was.
Unsuccessfully in his attempt to procure a map he tried to ask some of the locals for help. He walked up to one of them and did his best to act as nice and normal as possible. “Excuse me, could you tell me where—”
“Fucking topsiders, can’t you just leave us alone.” The man he tried asking roughly tried to push him away with a punch that connected with Noctis’ chest, only to not even send him back a millimeter away.
“Hey, I’m just trying to find out where I’m—” Instead of responding in anger he tried to defuse the situation and explained his reason for asking. He quickly realized that his approach might not have been the real problem but the clothes he wore.
“No one cares you scummy shit bag. Scram back onto the train and leave us all the hell alone before you can ruin our lives even further.” Some woman called out from behind him and tossed a beer can at him. Her terrible aim made the aluminum object hit a wall and spill the remaining contents of the can.
Witnessing that his attempts at striking up a conversation were futile, Noctis gave up trying to get anything out of the people and looked for some vendor near the station. Shop keepers always had information that could be traded for the right amount. “I still have a huge sum of gil from completing all those quests to receive a max hunter rank. Let’s hope someone knows how far away from Insomnia I currently am.”
If there was one language everyone spoke it was the language of money. He moved away from the pissed of crowd of people that had gathered and started walking away from the station.
“Someone… please help mommy…”
It was faint. Almost mistaken for the wind but Noctis clearly heard it. It was the faint crying of a child. His head snapped towards where the sound was coming from, and his grey eyes locked searched the area. If there was one thing he didn’t like, it was children crying and not getting the comfort they deserved.
There! He spotted a little girl with chestnut brown hair and green eyes rubbing away tears as she navigated through a crowd of passive bystanders that weren’t interested in help a young girl.
Fury burned through his veins at those adults as he in a few fearsome strides moved towards the little child and kneeled next to her. The girl didn’t even notice him get close so Noctis spoke in the kindest tone he could muster to try and get the kid to stop crying. “Hey there. Is everything alright?”
Almost immediately the girl's eyes shot up and stared at him in bewilderment, as if not believing that someone was actually speaking to her. “Huh?”
Seeing the lack of a proper response he pressed further. “A little miss like you shouldn’t be crying all alone in a place like this, do you know anyone around here who can—” For the third time he was cut of as the girl latched onto him and sobbed into his chest.
“Please, please help mommy, she’s injured.” Her cries for help didn’t escape him as he patted her head and asked a question.
“Alright, can you lead to where she is so that I can help?” He didn’t know the extend of the damage, but he already summoned a potion out of his Armiger and showed it to the girl. “I have some curatives on me young one, do you think this would help?”
The child stopped sobbing into his suit and gazed at the small potion that was the same size as a small soda can. “Mhm!” She nodded with tears still at the corner of her eyes and Noctis moved his thumb to get rid of them.
“There, all better. Now let’s go and help your mom.” He stood up and quickly found his free hand occupied by the girl who clutched onto him with all her might.
“This way, quickly!” She led him towards the middle of the train station where he saw a young woman with similar features to her daughter laying in a pool of blood and looking paler by the second.
Assessing the situation Noctis switched out the potion for an Hi-elixir and walked up to the woman, his hand still occupied by the little girl. “Mommy, I found someone who can help!”
“A-Aerith…” The mother didn’t look coherent enough to him to actually answer questions, so the Chosen King crouched next to her and put the curative next to her.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but the pain will disappear in a moment, just breath as calmly as you can and thing of your daughter.” Just as he was about to crack the elixir and let it do its job, the woman’s blood covered and shot out and grabbed his own. Her eyes which were unfocused a second ago regain their luster as she spoke to him.
“Please take Aerith somewhere safe, far away from here before they return…” She asked him in the kindest tone possible yet still conveying the urgency of her request.
But that didn’t matter to Noctis. “And leave you here to bleed out? A child shouldn’t get to grow up without a parent missing from their lives.” He almost growled out the last part as he crushed the healing object in his hand and let it do the work. Almost immediately he saw the woman’s skin regain some color and her breathing eased up, no longer looking like she was about to pass out from pain.
Yet a pained cough still escaped her lips as some more blood escaped her lips. “Did her body try to reject the healing effect?” He questioned out loud as he summoned a handkerchief, ignoring the look of shock from Aerith and her mother, before wiping the blood from her face. “I don’t have anything stronger on me? What the hell can I do…”
Iflana watched the young man’s face contort in panic as he wondered just what was happening. She tried to speak up and say that whatever was injected into her body by the scientist probably did it but lacked the necessary strength to do so. ‘At least Aerith will have someone to look after her, even if I’m not there in person to see her grow up.’
How she wished she’d get to fully explain to her daughter the heritage that came with being a Cetra and the long history behind their existence. How she wished to hear the planet talk to her once more, yet in the heart of Midgar it was impossible for the voices of the planet to reach her. She could feel her consciousness beginning to slip and accepted her fate of returning to the Lifestream.
In her last moments all Iflana wished was to reach out and hug her daughter one last time. Her hand reached out only to fall flat and hit the cold ground, never again feeling the warm touch of another person.
Only to suddenly feel her entire body heat up, her hand being gently held by two bigger hands. A warm golden light shinned brightly as her eyes fluttered open, all pain and exhaustion vanishing into the ether. “What?”
Iflana watched with bated breath as the young man talked to himself and pressed her hand against his forehead.
Noctis saw the woman’s body go limp and immediately reached out to catch it, staring in horror as he sensed her life slowly coming to an end. He could hear the little girl next to him start weeping again as his teeth gritted loudly. What lousy king was he? Letting an innocent soul lose their life right before his eyes and he wouldn’t even put up a fight?
No! He was Noctis Lucis Caelum, and he would wrestle with Etro herself if it meant letting the woman live. “I swore an oath to protect all the people of Eos, all that are born on her soil are under my banner and shall receive my protection for I am the King of Lucis.”
The ring on his hand began to shine brightly in a white light as he unraveled his hand from Aerith’s grasp and reached out to hold her mother hand in his own two. “If the ring stored the powers of the previous kings and is giving it to me then some remaining power of Luna’s should still be there. If I can use Holy to battle, then healing someone should also be within the realm of possibilities.”
He pulled her hands closer and pressed them against his forehead just like Luna did many times before him. A soft golden light began to shine through the white light of the ring on his hand pierced through the darkness of the night. Noctis then began to recite the same prayer Luna’s mother told over him during his recuperation period in Tenebrae. “Blessed stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness blight.”
The golden light grew stronger as Noctis felt his magical reserves take a small dip but noticed the mother’s life moving away from the brink of death. Seeing her life no longer in danger he let her hand go and stared back at her, seeing how her eyes were bulging out in amazement at what had just happened.
But then everything took a turn for the worse.
All that healing he did was suddenly reversed as a dark miasma began to spread around the woman’s body. Dark spots slowly corroded everything as Noctis began to push more magic through his body to the lady. His prayers grew stronger, yet the weird darkness also rose to challenge his power. A struggle arose as the two powers fought for supremacy.
Two forces from the opposite parts of the spectrum tried to achieve victory. Like day and night, light and dark duked it out and illuminated the entire train platform in their respective colors.
The battle continued until Noctis saw just what he was doing. So desperate in trying to reach for victory he saw just was his own power was doing. Instead of healing the injured woman he was caused the wounds to grow worse. With each blast of the Oracle’s power the blackened spots became bigger and ate at the insides of the woman. She tried to scream in pain, yet nothing came out from her eroding body.
Seeing just what was happening the king couldn’t help but make a comparison to a daemonic essence clinging onto the brunette. “I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered out and lowered his head in defeat. “My hubris in believing I could overpower this vile energy caused you much pain and harm. This was an unbecoming act of a king—”
Noctis stopped monologuing as the hood wearing lady squeezed back at his hands and shook her head. “You… have nothing… to be sorry for… If it hadn’t been for you… then I would have never… heard the planet speak so clearly to me…” Each sentence she uttered was laced with pain and struggle that she was actively fighting through. Her grip grew desperate as she nodded her head towards Aerith and then stared back at Noctis. “I beg of you… take my daughter and run away, far away… and protect her from those who would do her harm.”
A final plea as her life came to an end, one that Noct would never dare to say no too. “I promise you as the Chosen King that I will fulfill your request until I draw my final breath.” His voice wavered slightly but he maintained his composure and spoke with resolution.
“Then go east of here until you reach a town named Kalm, it should allow you to hide from Shinra for some time.” While Noctis didn’t recognize any of the names spoken he still nodded and glanced over to the child now cradling her moms arm.
“I’ll do it, so please, rest knowing that your daughter will be protected under my aegis.” He then stood up and gave the mother and daughter one last private moment.
“Aerith.” Iflana touched her child’s cheek and wiped away any stray tear that were pouring out of her eyes. “My beautiful daughter, you are so brave and strong. Thank you for being the star of my life and bringing me such happiness. Please, live a good and happy life that you can be proud of, knowing that I will always be by your side.” Her hand traveled upwards and ruffled her hair. “Thank… you…”
In the last moments of her life Iflana glanced at the man standing next to her daughter and sent him a faint nod. ‘Thank you, if the planet chose to believe in you then so shall I King of Kings.’
A second later hand went limp, and her head moved to the side, the light from her eyes gone. The last noble and pure blooded Cetra had rejoined the Lifestream once more.
“Mommy!” Aerith couldn’t stop her tears any longer as she let all her emotions out and cried into her mom's side. She was resolved to continue to sit next to her until the end of time as the man kneeled down next to her once more and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I know this is difficult for you, I also remember how I was feeling when my mom left right before my eyes. The loneliness that overtook me. The lack of will. The fear of losing myself in sorrow.” If he closed his eyes, he could still see his mother’s body speared by the Marilith as it pierced through both of them. His mom had covered her only child with her own body to protect him from danger. And that was exactly what the lady before him had done for her daughter.
“My mom gave her own life to protect mine, hoping that I’d live to see another day just like your mom did. I can’t tell you just what exactly was on her mind, but she definitely wished for you to live Aerith.” His bigger hands wrapped around her own as he pushed a small bit of magic into her body and gave her some more strength to stand up and move. “That is why we must leave this place, now.”
“Okay…” Aerith feebly answered and stood up, tentatively holding onto Noctis’ hand. She glanced back at her mom’s body as her green eyes saw something only, she could perceive. Her mother’s spirit was standing in front of her, an encouraging smile adorning her features as if telling her daughter, it’s alright, our legacy is in your hands now.
Understanding her moms final message and wiping away one last tear Aerith ripped her hand away from Noct and dashed next to Iflana’s body. She kneeled down and picked up a small ornament box that was barely larger than her hand. “I’ll be alright mommy.”
“Aerith.” He walked back with her as he saw what she picked up. Deciding that asking what was inside would be insensitive Noctis gave her his hand once more. “Let’s—”
“Stop right there!”
The familiar click of a firearm permeated through the area was a couple of infantry men walked out of a train and aimed at them, specifically at Noctis. “Step away from TOI 1 and 2.”
The raven-haired man didn’t know what TOI stood for, but he didn’t like it one bit. “And if I said I wasn’t going to?” His snarky side returned in spades as he scowled at them, still wondering why no one recognized him. He knew that the average citizen wouldn’t always recognize his face since he always hid from the paparazzi, but a soldier definitely would. “Don’t you know who you’re aiming at?”
Magical energy was already filled to the brim under his skin as the first shot was instantly fired. The bullets raced at him as Aerith clung closely to his side. What no one saw coming was a sudden burst of blue light and 13 crystal like weapons circulating around the two at speeds far beyond anything humanly conceivable. All the bullets bounced of the barrier of weapons and fell to the ground. Hundreds upon thousands of bullets remains littered the floor.
Taking the opportunity that was created thanks to the confusion, Noctis channeled Ice magic through his feet and let a large pillar of ice form around them, cutting of the outside world except for the top. As if winter itself had come or a Shiva summon Materia was deployed, the air itself became far too cold for the troopers to come any closer.
“That should do it for now.” Quite proud of his controlled use of magic, Noct glanced at Aerith who was shivering a bit and kneeled down with his back facing her. “Get on, I’ll fly us out of here.”
His words sounded insane, yet after seeing what had happened, she climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Alright then, now hold on.” And to her further shock the man she was holding on to began to actually hover in the air. She witnessed his feet leave the ground as he carried her into the sky.
Noctis focused on his magical output and raised it high enough to support flight with ease, his body soaring into the heavens fast enough to escape the slums of Midgar in seconds. The same aura that manifested when he unleashes all his Royal Arms covered both of them to support his flight. Up in the sky he breathed in the fresh air and watched the stars that shinned far above their heads. “Now then, where could a city named Kalm be?”
With Noctis hovering in the sky and being careful so as to not harm his passenger, he had a little bit of time to reflect about where exactly he was right now. His eyesight reached far away distance, yet everything looked almost the same. Instead of luscious green fields of grass all he was seeing were dead plants and numerous large pipes that littered the area. There was no life left in the area, as if it had all been dried up.
The place reminded him of the land right outside Insomnia. The large open deserts of Leide were largely devoid of any vegetation, but they still brimmed with life, not actually dead like this. His power couldn’t resonate with any of the land created by the Astrals and nothing sung to him like it always did. He would have killed for Gentiana to suddenly pop in and explain anything.
Well, staying in the air and not moving did give him any advantage so after asking Aerith if she was uncomfortable on his back. “I-I’m not.” She spoke back with wonder in her voice as her small eyes gazed around at the open, vast and free space. “We’re flying…”
‘At least this got her mind of her moms death for a while.’ Noctis thanked the stars that the small girl could still absorb new information and wasn’t spiraling into a depression like he did after his mother’s death. ‘She’s one strong girl.’
It took a few minutes of flying forward until he saw on the edge of his vision a town pop up, a small spark of light between a vast sea of darkness. “Hey, you think that’s Kalm?” There weren’t really a lot of lights up, but he noticed that many different presences were around the town. “There seems to be a few people outside the entrance into the place. Get ready for a little bot of turbulence.”
The shine around them strengthened momentarily before they both vanished into thin air. From a bright light to nothing in an instance. Had anyone been looking directly at them from the distance they would have to rub their eyes and look over the small town to spot them again.
Noctis preformed a long-distance warp and reappeared over the city. “Wow…” Aerith looked a little bit green as he glanced at her, but it was normal for first time warps. The king then slowed down his flight as they approached the city and he approached the ground, making sure his magical energy receded and went back into his body. The blue crystalline light went away, and they began to drop a few feet before hitting the ground on his feet.
Dust picked up as his feet touched the earth and he let Aerith down from his back. “Careful now.”
The dark night sky covered all their faces and Noctis made sure that his chest light was off. His lamp would have given away that some people suddenly appeared inside the city.
“Um, mister?” Aerith called out from next to him and waved her hand in the air.
“Yeah, something wrong kiddo?” Noctis glanced back at her and smiled lightly. “And my name is Noctis, but you can call me Noct if you want.”
“Okay mister Noctis.” She nodded and her eyes sparkled with amazement. “How did you do all that? We were suddenly in the air and then whoosh, and then bam, and then on the ground.” She waved her hands around imitating the actions and magical skill Noctis used.
“It’s called Warping Aerith, a special ability granted to me my lineage.” He ruffled her hair and looked around the area, making sure that no one was around them. “I can explain more later but you should get some rest now Aerith. You’ve had a long day.” The night gave them cover and allowed Noctis to quickly find a place that still had light on inside.
Soon enough the two entered a homey and warm inn, and the smell of freshly baked bread entered their nostrils. Both of them relaxed instantly as Noctis walked up to the counter with the small Cetra clinging onto him and was greeted by a lady with dark blond hair. “Good evening, sir, do you require a room to stay?”
“Yes, are there any available rooms for us to rest in?” After starting a conversation with the woman his grey eyes wandered around the room to check for anything out of place. Finding nothing too weird he focused back on the lady.
“Unfortunately, sir we only have our smallest room available for use, is that alright with you?” The miss told in an apologetic way and bowed.
“There’s no need to prostrate yourself miss. We’ll take the room instead of freezing outside so no need to look so down.” He summoned his wallet from the Armiger behind his back, letting Aerith see it appear from nothing, before he opened it and checked around the desk for any transactional terminals. “Can I pay by card or just cash?”
“Card is just fine sir.” The lady behind the desk kneeled down and pulled out a small terminal. “Here.”
Taking out his card he moved it close to the dark rectangle with a green screen on it. He let the card connect with the object and he waited patiently for the familiar beep of a transaction going through. And waited. And waited.
And waited.
“I’m sorry sir but your card doesn’t seem to be working properly. Do you at least have 200 gil in cash to pay for the room?” She looked apologetic and sorry as Noctis sighed and pulled out two one hundred gil banknotes.
“Of course something wouldn’t go right just before going to sleep.” Calming himself the king took the key to their room and noticed how worn out and tired Aerith looked, little girl having her eyes drop cutely before opening to stay awake. “Here, I’ll get you to bed”
He dropped down and picked up the half-awake kid into his arms. After a quick trip up the stairs, he opened the door and helped Aerith to bed before he locked the room behind them both. He then kneeled down and charged some energy into the tip of his finger and began to draw on the wooden floor planks.
“What are you doing?” The Cetra tried her best to stay awake a little bit longer and watched as the man engraved something into the floor. She wondered just what mystery thing he was doing now.
“It’s a simple protection glyph, one that you would normally find across different havens around the world. Can’t make them have the same power to repel monsters and daemons at the snap of my fingers but it will ward us from anyone seeking us harm.” A few more scratches and he stood back up. “All done, so, you good? Need anything?”
Not hearing anything back he turned around and saw the girl already fast asleep and snuggling into a pillow. Noctis smiled lightly, walked up to the edge of the bed and sat down on the ground, pulling out his phone but not before dragging a blanket over Aerith. “Why do bad things have to happen to honest and pure people?”
Getting his phone out the king once more fired it up and tried to call anyone. He checked that he had connection, yet no call ever got answered. Not Prompto. Not Ignis. Not Gladiolus. Not Cor. Not Aranea. Not Cindy. Not Iris. No one he knew would answer. For a second fear touched his soul. “Don’t tell me they all died?”
“You needn’t worry over such a dark possibility Chosen King.”
An arctic breeze filled the area as Noctis sighed and released a small burst of fire magic, having an aura of warmth keep both him and Aerith warm and safe from the cold.
Right in front of the door stood a woman of immense beauty. A pale face framed by long hair as smooth as silk itself. A black dress and white warp fluttered despite a lack of air flow inside. Her hands were folded demurely as she bowed lightly before the two. “The High Messenger greets the King of the Stone.” Her voice was devoid of all emotion, yet they still drew out a small laugh from Noctis who stood up from the ground.
“It is good to see you again Gentiana. There’s much to discuss.”
“I concur with your statement King of Kings. There is much I need to impart onto you about the world you now reside in and its inhabitants.”
“Huh?”